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Lincoln is Elected for President
Abraham Lincoln is elected the 16th president of the United States. -
South Carolina Secedes from the Union
South Carolina Became the first Southern state to secede from the Union. -
Confederate Forces Attack Fort Sumter (Civil War Begins)
Fort Sumter is an island fortification located in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina most famous for being the site of the first shots of the Civil War. -
Anaconda Plan is designed
The Anaconda Plan was the Union's strategic plan to defeat the Confederacy at the start of the American civil War. This would cut off and isolate the south from the outside world. -
Battle of Antietam
The Battle of Antietam is the deadliest one-day battle in all of American Military History. -
Emancipation Proclamation
Abraham Lincoln declared that all slaves in confederate states and fighting against the Union shall be free. -
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Battle of Vicksburg
Union forces waged a campaign to take the Confederate stronghold of Vicksburg, Mississippi. -
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Battle of Gettysburg
It is considered them most important engagement of the American Civil War. The Union army lost 23,000 soldiers and the Confederate army lost 28,000 men when they fought at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. -
Gettysburg Address
A famous speech by Abraham Lincoln that reinforced the purpose for the Civil War and where he talked about the rights in the Declaration of Independence that all people should have equal rights. -
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Sherman's March
The purpose of Sherman's March to the Sea was to frighten Georgia's civilian population into abandoning the Confederate cause. -
Robert E. Lee Surrenders to Ulysses S. Grant
In Appomattox Court House, Virginia, General Robert E. Lee surrenders his 28,000 troops to General Ulysses S. Grant, ending the American Civil War. -
Lincoln is Assassinated
John Wilkes Booth shot Lincoln while he was attending a play at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. -
Andrew Johnson declares an end to the Civil War
President Andrew Johnson formally declared an end to the Civil War. Even though the fighting ended over a year before, there had never been a formal declaration of peace and reunification in the country before then. -
John Brown's Raid
Abolitionist John Brown leads a small group on a raid against a federal armory in Harpers Ferry, in an attempt to start an armed slave revolt and destroy the institution of slavery.